In this con, someone calls pretending to be a court official who threateningly says a warrant has been issued or threatens arrest because you did not show up for jury duty.  The caller claims to be a jury coordinator. If you protest that you never received a summons for jury duty, the scammer will ask you for your Social Security number and date of birth so he or she can verify the information and cancel the arrest warrant. Sometimes they even ask for credit card numbers. Give out this information and just like that your identity has just been stolen.

This scam has been reported so far in 11 states..

Recently, police have received complaints from area financial institutions involving telephone banking scams, internet (ebay) scams, as well as counterfeit American Express Gift Cheques.

  The telephone banking scam is reported like this…A few customers received a phone call from someone claiming they were from a local financial institution.  They stated that there was a problem with their accounts and they need to collect some information from them and they would be able to rectify the problem.  They were asked for their account information, name and social security numbers. 

  According to several of the real local financial institutions, they tell their customers that we will never email or call for any personal or account information.  If they do receive a call, the financial institutions recommend telling the representative they are going to hang up and call the bank themselves to verify they are really from the bank. 

  If they do give in to a phishing scam they should immediately call their financial institution and contact the three major credit bureaus and request that a fraud alert be placed on their credit report.  The credit bureaus and phone numbers are:  Equifax, 1-800-525-6285; Experian, 1-888-397-3742; and TransUnion, 1-800-680-7289.  They should also file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov or 1-877-382-4357. Regarding American Express Gift Cheques. A victim was currently on-line in Yahoo instant message. He received a pop up from a woman who stated that she was in Nigeria and had to pay her hotel bill and that she could not cash a personal check. She then requested to know his address to send him a check to cash and to have him wire the cash back to her via western union.

He then received in the mail, (8) eight Counterfeit American Express Gift Cheques, in denominations of $500.00. (Note: Real American Express Gift Cheques are in denominations of $25.00, $50.00 and $100.00 only). Fortunately, the victim did not go through with the transaction.

Regarding the internet scam, specifically e-bay, a victim sold a vehicle on e-bay for $2100.00. He received a check in the mail for $4900.00 and was told to cash the check and wire $2800.00 back to the buyer and the buyer would pay for the shipping charges.

  This scam happens more and more. The check was obviously counterfeit. But, in the past, unlike this time, victims have cashed these checks, sent the money off, via western union, and then later, notified by their financial institution that the check was counterfeit. At that point, the victim becomes responsible for the deposited check.